PERU DAY EIGHTEEN

I wake up at ten today. It is so nice to sleep in. Today is our lazy day -- breakfast at a bakery, shop around, lunch of Arroz de la Cubana at a local place, maybe some internet, more shopping for gifts, and maybe catch a movie in the evening.

I wake up to trumpets. They are having another parade. I go outside to investigate, and sure enough, I can spot hordes of people and uniforms in front of the cathedral in the Plaza. They sure celebrate a lot in this country.

We go to the market and buy a million alpaca hats and a million Inka Cola shirts. These are your gifts, so act surprised when you get them. We actually make a deal with one Tshirt stand woman, that we will wait twenty minutes while they dig into storage and find the vibrant colored shirts that we are after. We agree. I don´t think they actually have storage. I think the twenty minutes buys them enough time to shop around their friends´ shops and trade with them.

In the afternoon, we go to Plaza San Blas, which is the artisan quarter of this city. Wade buys some awesome plates that are covered with Peruvian/Incan doodles and drawings. We watch a dance troupe perform a song about the Diablo, though we guess acurately that their Devil is actually the Spaniards. The Diablo masks they wear have long mustaches, pale skin, and blue eyes.

What do we have for lunch? That´s right, Arroz de la Cubana. My favorite meal.

In the afternoon, we meet a Portuguese travellor at our hostel. We spread the word about the Don Isaac Trail. Later we see a movie, The Interpreter, which sucks. The experience was nifty, though. We got to eat dinner during the film. I have a banana and strawberry creme filled crepe. (There is another food delivery to the kitchen during the movie, no doubt the bananas for my dish.)

We internet, pack up, and sleep.